


Goodnight, and Have a Pleasant Tomorrow

by mxdnightdrexming (orphan_account)



Category: Doki Doki Literature Club! (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/F, honestly i have no idea how to tag this can i get a yikes, its mostly just sayonika tbh, natsuki is a transgirl, natsuyuri is very minimal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-05-18 19:00:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 7,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19340656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/mxdnightdrexming
Summary: "Are you sure everything will be fine?""No, but I'd like to believe so."//In which two girls risk everything for everyone else.(Based off an album by The Brobecks with the same name.)





	1. Prologue // Confessions with the Literature Club

**Author's Note:**

> heyo! this fic was actually originally posted on my wattpad (don't bother finding it, i literally don't check it lmao) but i wanted to import it over to here! The pacing is a little all over the place, but i'm still super proud of it!

Monika walked into the classroom of her club to the front of the room. She cleared her throat, which prompted everyone to look at her. 

"I have something to confess," she said. "We're not real... Just computer programs. Game characters. It's complicated." 

Everyone's expressions changed. Yuri pressed her lips into a thin line, simply speechless as she tried to comprehend what her president had just stated. Natsuki just turned her head away from Monika. Sayori looked down, on the verge of tears.

 

"No.. You're lying," she said in a sickly sweet voice.

 

"I wish I was. I really, really do," Monika replied solemnly.

 

"Then why is everyday so hard?!" Sayori practically yelled, tears coming out of her eyes.

 

Monika was taken aback. She didn't want one of her club members, one of her friends, to be upset. "I-I don't know.."

 

The club fell silent. No one dared to say anything, just letting everyone cool off. 

 

Yuri had something clutched in her hands, looking down at it. She spoke up after a while, not moving her line of sight.

 

"Well, I've had this problem for a few months now." the tall girl says. "When I get excited, I impulsively cut myself."

Yuri places what was in her hands, a knife, on the desk. She rolled up her sleeves. There were dozens of cuts up and down her arms; some were scabbed over, and some looked freshly opened. "Oh my gosh, Yuri," Monika said. She looked inside her bag for the first aid kit she kept at all times. Upon finding it, Monika made her way towards Yuri with a small bottle of rubbing alcohol and bandages. "It's gonna hurt, just deal with it," Monika stated. She pressed a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol to the wounds that looked fresh and put bandages on them, as well. "Have you considered seeing a doctor? People have told me they help," Sayori asked. Yuri shook her head. At least Sayori had apparently calmed down. 

Monika finished bandaging Yuri. "Natsuki? What about you?" the purple-haired girl asked.

Natsuki paused, considered what she'd say, and said it.

"Well... I'm not biologically a she-? I'm a transgirl." Natsuki said quickly.

Sayori looked around at the other girls. They didn't do anything. She abruptly stood up and gave Natsuki a firm hug. "It's okay. I accept you. Everything will be alright." she whispered in the smaller's ear. The other two girls also stood up and joined the hug. They all whispered words of encouragement and acceptance to the bubblegum-pink haired girl. Natsuki ended up sobbing, as she didn't think it would end up as well as it did. The other girls let go of the hug when they noticed this. "Now, is anyone else going to admit they're part of the LGBT+ community in ways we don't know yet?" Sayori jokingly said. A slight snicker, including Natsuki herself, came from the club. 

Sayori finally spoke up about her faults.   
"Right, I guess I have something to admit, too. For a while now, I think about 7 or 8 years, I've had pretty bad depression."

She shrugged it off like it was nothing. Looking around, Natsuki hugged Sayori after no one else would. It wasn't like her to be so caring and empathetic, but she thought she'd return the favor that Sayori had shared with her. Everyone else joined the hug and didn't let go for a while.

The club meeting continued on with a bit more understanding of each other. The club separated a few hours later. When she had got to the sidewalk to walk home, Sayori had heard her name being called. Turning around, she saw Monika running towards her. "Sayori! Sayori! Wait up!" She did as she was told, and waited for Monika. When Monika got to Sayori, she spoke. 

"Sayori! I'm glad I caught you! Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to go out for ice cream or something like that on Saturday, er, tomorrow." Monika said out of breath.

"Yeah, sure, I'd love to. I don't have any plans for tomorrow, anyway." Sayori said with somewhat fake enthusiasm that Monika didn't completely pick up.

"Oh, okay cool. Pick you up and around, what, 2?"

"2 sounds nice. See you tomorrow." a small smile found Sayori.

"Yeah! See you tomorrow!"

The girls exchanged goodbyes and went their separate ways. 'Tomorrow' would be an interesting day.


	2. I'll Be Fine, Really

~Sayori~  
I wake up and open my eyes to the sound of my alarm. I can't remember the last time I've had a full night's sleep. Waving my hand towards the alarm clock on my dresser, I hit something with the back of my hand, hearing it rattle as it drops to the floor. I know exactly what it is. I don't pick it up. 

I shut my alarm off, careful not to hit snooze like I'm used to doing, and get out of bed, careful to not step on the small bottle I dropped to the ground. I get ready for school in 30 minutes and walk out with a breakfast bar in hand. 

I walk to school alone; my childhood best friend, Mc, moved away a couple of years ago. I wonder how he's doing now, but he never picks up when I call him or answers my texts. I could send him a feeble text, but I don't. Better to just wait until I get inside.

I walk straight into class, since clubs don't operate before school and I don't have anything else to do. My phone buzzes as soon as I sit down meaning I got a text. I slightly hope that it's from Mc, but it's from Monika, instead.

Mun~: Good morning! It's now 7:15, so get out of bed! I'm out here in the front of the school waiting~

I slightly snicker at the newly routine text, making my overall mood better.

Sayori: Jokes on you, I'm already in class, but thanks for the text anyway. 

Mun~: Damn. I'm coming up now.

It doesn't take long before Monika shows up in the classroom. It's no surprise when some people stare at her. I mean, she was top of her class last year, and voted most beautiful in the grade. She ignores all of them and just strides towards me. 

"How 'ya doing, Sweetcheeks?" Monika says when she comes up to me.

"I'm doing just fine. What's with the stupid accent?" I laugh out.

"I have no actual idea. That just came over me."

She takes her seat next to mine and we continue talking. We both hear the whispers from our classmates to one another if we're in a relationship. We've been out before, yet she hasn't asked me to be her girlfriend yet either. The answer is maybe. The class bell rings, and everybody settles in their seats.

 

Before I realize, the school day ends. "Club time!" Monika says with jazz hands, making me wake up from my daydream.

"Already?"

"Yep." 

We me our way towards the clubroom, up the steps and down the hall. Yuri's already there. She greets us, and Natsuki enters later on with a big box in her hands. 

"What's in there?" Yuri questions.

"It's my manga collection. Dad said it was getting too big for my room!" Natsuki beams.

It's a forced smile, I can tell, being a person who faked one almost everyday for the past couple of years. I slightly furrow my eyebrows, but Natsuki doesn't notice.

The rest of the meeting consisted of us thinking of what to do for the festival which is a week away. We decided on having a poem reading with a nice atmosphere, courtesy of our local aromatherapy enthusiast, Yuri, and cupcakes, courtesy of our local baker, Natsuki. The club meeting ends and we all go our separate ways. Monika asks if she can walk home with me; I accept.

We walk about of the school and into the road. She starts small talk, asking how my day was and such. Everyone in the club knows I have depression, and they like to check up on me sometimes. This happened today, also.

"Today was an okay day. Nothing was really interesting until the club meeting. I for once got a full night's sleep," I state, listing off the things that happened today.

Monika only nods her head slightly at the answer, her slight smile not faltering. We get to my door, and Monika tells me to stop. 

"I just have one more thing to ask. Would youu.. possibly-maybe be my girlfriend..?" Monika asks me, getting uncharacteristically more and more flustered as the sentence went on.

"Is that even a question? Of course!" I answer, to which Monika pulls me into a hug.  
She laughs, "Okay, but now it's time for you to go home. See you, Honey."

I enter the house, responding. "Yeah, guess it is. Don't tell me 'Honey' is gonna be a reoccurring name for me?"

"Haha! You wish!" she says before running off in joking fear.

I close the front door, sighing with content and a stupid smile that on my face. Scratch what I said earlier, the answer is Yes.


	3. One Minute of Fun

~Sayori~  
Going to sleep, I have a feeling I'm forgetting something. Homework? Check! Clothes? Check (We wear uniforms for God's sake)! Lunch for tomorrow? Check! Waking up, I realize. My poem for today's literature club meeting. I get out of bed and take out my notebook. Looking anywhere for inspiration, I look outside the window. I know exactly what I'm writing about. Titling the page "Dear Sunshine", I get to writing.

Finishing the poem, I run down to the kitchen. Me, anticipating forgetting something, already made a breakfast for this morning. French toast, just like Mc always made it. Turns out he just Googled a recipe for it and added some of his own Mc flair. I take the plate out of the fridge and pop it into the microwave. After the appliance obnoxiously beeps, I take it out and devour it. Can you blame me? I'm hungry. A buzz comes from my phone. It's Monika's "good morning" text. I smile, it's cute. After that, I get ready and head to school.

Opening the door, I see a purple blob by the sidewalk. It's Yuri. I know she lives down the street, but she doesn't seem like the type to wait for someone like me.  
"Ah! Sayori! Usually I'm solitary when it comes to walking to school, but I thought having a companion would be nice today," she greets me.

I respond a bland response, not ready for conversation, "Oh, hey, Yuri! Sure, I'll join you,"

I haven't had someone to walk with to school for the longest time, so it's really nice that Yuri is with me.

"Hey, Yuri," I ask. "How counseling doing. For your cutting?"

"It's going good. I haven't been cutting as much. Still collecting knives, though. They're interesting," Yuri slightly smiles, not like Natsuki's forced smile from yesterday. I'm glad my friend is getting better. 

We part our separate ways once we get to school, since Yuri is a year up from me. I'm greeted by a happy Monika when I enter the classroom.

"Hey, Hun!"

"Oh my gosh, Monika, if the nicknames become a regular thing with you-" I say quickly, sounding like one word.

"Well, you're out of luck," she giggles.

I sigh. "Okay then, Sweetie." Might as well poke at her. Two can play at that game.

I hear some of our classmates "Aww"-ing and cheering at our cute little couple bickering. I'm not actually sure if our status is out yet, but it doesn't matter. The morning announcements play; I don't listen until they call out my name. "Oh, and will Sayori Tekowa please report to the office." I just get up and go. Might as well, I have nothing to lose.

I briskly walk to the office. I don't actually know why, it's not like there's anyone in the halls to bump into. Once I get to the office, I'm greeted by the school's secretary.

"Ah, Miss Tekowa,"

"Sayori, you can just call me Sayori"

She slightly laughs at that. "Sayori, your counselor wants to see you"

What did I do to get to this point? 

"Oh, okay," I respond, trying my best for my voice to not falter.

I make my way over to my counselor, Mrs. G. Her name is hard to pronounce for everyone, so we just call her that. She waves her hand for my to come in and take a seat.

"Sayori! Hello! Make yourself comfortable," she says.

That is not the greeting I anticipated, but I go with it anyway. I sit in the chair across from her desk, trying to avoid eye contact. I speak up soon, though.

"So, um, why am I here?" I apprehensively ask.

"Your parents and friends have notified me about your depression. Your parents also told me that both they and you are not in a situation to get a therapist, so I volunteered to be it," Mrs. G explains. "I'm really just doing my job." She smiles at me.

I nod, going with it. Mrs. G explains that I'll go to her for an hour daily to rant each day about how I feel and what's going on in my life, and how it's better to lets things out rather than bottling them up. Today I start at the beginning. All the way back 8 years when I was first diagnosed. I depart after the hour is up and thank Mrs. G. 

Monika almost immediately gets up and asks me what happened. I tell the truth; there's no good reason I wouldn't. The school day breezes past me. I have no idea how Monika picks up this stuff so fast. Then again, I mainly just doodle on my pages instead of doing the work. Monika and I make our way over to our club room after the last bell rings

Natsuki's already there when we enter. "Monika! Sayori! I was wondering when someone would show up!" she exclaims. "Anyway, I need you to sample these cake flavors for the cupcakes for the festival!" On her desk and now in her hands is a tray filled with little squares of cake in various colors. 

"I have your run-of-the-mill chocolate and vanilla. I also baked both blue and red velvet. Oh, and I made some weirder flavors like various nuts!" She seems to ramble on about the different cake flavors. Natsuki then takes out /another/ tray with tiny cups and sample spoons. "I also have frosting options."

I notice Monika looking overwhelmed at the pink-haired girl's vast array of options for cupcakes for the festival. Something in her gaze says, "Yuri where the hell are you we can't do do this by ourselves," and, "Natsuki how the hell did you manage to make and bake all of these samples in one day and still have time for all of your homework,". As if on cue, Yuri appears.

"Sorry I'm tardy. I, uh, forgot something in my locker when I was packing up." She says. 

"Well that's great that you're here now! We were just.. having cake samples right now," Monika responds

"That makes it sound like you're sampling wedding cakes," Natsuki remarks bluntly.

I lightly smack Natsuki at the remark. "We're not, and that's what matters!"

"Whatever you sayyy," Natsuki says mockingly, emphasizing the 'y'

Yuri, Monika, and I test cake samples for the rest of the meeting. Natsuki says they were already "Baked to perfection" so she doesn't need to taste them. We end up going with all the flavors, to which Natsuki doesn't complain, only asking, "So how many cupcakes?" I look to Monika, who, to everyone's surprise, says, "I don't know. 100 at the least." Natsuki doesn't even look nervous. "Challenge accepted!"

We finish up the meeting by reading our poems out loud. It was nice. Yuri and Natsuki almost got into an argument about writing styles, but thankfully Monika and I were about to stop them before it could get any more heated. The bell rings once again, meaning clubs have to disband at this point. We say our goodbyes and I close out to an interesting day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok this is the first time i'm reading my work in a while and fun fact: Sayori's councelor is a reference to my elementary school's councelor and i miss her smh


	4. File Code #1459

~Monika~  
Boring.  
Everything is boring.

And it was like that. For a really long time. We're all in a simulation, anyway. It's not like it matters. Well, at least until I found myself in the literature club and everyone in it. I found myself really caring for these people, one in particular. (Whom you can probably guess). I put on a smile which is so convincing, even I'm slightly happy from it. I haven't really played around with the code; maybe I should. 

And that's where I find myself in a blindingly white and bright space, going seemingly infinitely out from where I stand. I see 4 little files, each labeled with my and my friend's names on each of them with a .chr tag marked on them as well. 

Carefully clicking on the one with Natsuki's name on it brings up a smaller box with all of the girl's statistics. Okay, maybe I exaggerated a /little bit/. I messed with my own code to make me a top of the class student. I'm too busy with a lot of things to actually focus on schoolwork and stuff. That was a lie. I'm not busy at all. I go back to Natsuki's file, with a bunch of bars and numbers next to words about the girl. Changing a few little numbers and bars here and here, mainly ones that sound good, like her "good home life" bar all the way up. She deserves it, after all she's been through.

Sayori's file looks slightly different than the last time I looked at it. Her little knob that's labeled "depressive mood and general outlook in the world" is turned more to the right. Weird. I try to move it back to the left, but it doesn't budge. I close her file, then, and open Yuri's.

Yuri's file calms me down from the shock that is Sayori's file. Her knobs and buttons are in good places that are calming, almost. It's weird, though, because I can't move any of her knobs either. Then I realize the ticking noise. One of the knobs is moving. I try to find which one, but it's hard. 

I get away from the whole file directory. I have a really bad headache. I almost forgot that I get these, but I do. Thinking about it, I really shouldn't make changes to their files. I smile, though, thinking that they can still be happy. I notice looking outside that the sun is setting. I feel my phone buzz. I got a text, from my parents, I assume, yet it's not them. I should really call them sometime, too, since they haven't contacted me in a while. It's from Sayori, instead.

hun: Come over! The sunset is really pretty!

mun: Okay then~

I laugh at her little text. I do agree, though, the sunset is really pretty. I get out of the apartment that I call home and run out to my car to go to Sayori's house.


	5. City Lights

~Monika~  
I make it to Sayori's quite quickly, considering that I do live near to her. She's already sprawled out on her lawn with a pile of blankets. Sayori gestures to me to come over to her and greets me.

"Monika! Come over here! I have.. stuff!" she calls me over. "Plus, the sun's gonna start setting soon!"

I giggle at her the greeting and make it over to her. Sayori is sprawled out on the blankets. "Moniii-" she groans out, jokingly changing her disposition. "I'm hungryyy- pass me the tiiin!" I do as she says, (we don't want a grumpy Sayori) and she quickly opens the tall tin filled with popcorn. She sits up, to give me space, and shoves a handful of popcorn in her mouth.

I sit down next to her. The sun begins to set. The sky is a mesmerizing painting of soft pinks and purples, oranges and yellows, so many shades of blues. The clouds are peppered throughout the sky, especially close to the setting sun and rising moon. I feel at peace. 

"Wow...." I hear Sayori mutter. "It's like- I don't know. It's just really pretty. I've never been that good with words. It's just- beautiful," she sighs. I feel her lean onto my shoulder. "You're comfortable."

"Thanks." I say. She leans into me more.

"Y'know, my life really sucked. I've been lonely for a lot of time, and I never really had anything to do. I didn't have any passions. My old best friend left me a while back and life was really bland. I didn't have any other friends and I suffered even more. My depression got worse. But then the literature club came around! You are one of the best I've ever met! And so are Yuri and Natsuki! You guys are amazing." Sayori rambles as the sun finally sets behind the horizon. Her and the rest of her neighborhood's lights weren't on, so the stars were perfectly visible. "Mhm. I've also been having trouble sleeping, but I started taking pills to help me sleep, but I just feel oddly tired too-" 

Sayori eventually falls asleep on my shoulder. She really looks at peace, despite the whole rant about her past she had just blurted out. I know it's not true, but it's what she knows, and that makes me sad. But happy too. It's a bittersweet existence. I guess it's good, though, since she doesn't understand the pain of knowing exactly how we're made to be. I hear quiet intelligible mumbles from Sayori. She's dreaming. I hope she's dreaming something nice. She deserves it. 

I see the city lights in the distance. They're brighter than the stars. Something attracts me to them. Smaller lights, there's something about them that's truly mesmerizing about them. Some part of me tells me to abandon Sayori and go to them. I shake those thoughts out of my head. No, Sayori is one of the reasons I don't just completely break up this world, why should I just leave her? 

I look up to the stars. I look up looking for the constellations. I quickly point them all out. Orion, Ursa Major and Minors, all 12 zodiacs, you name it, I find it. Around 12 Sayori wakes up. "Moni, what time is it? What are we doing now?" 

"You were sleeping. I was looking at the stars."

"I can name some!"

"Oh really now?"

"Yeah. There's the big bright one-"

I laugh as Sayori points at a small bright patch in the sky. "Sweetie, that's Venus! Y'know the planet?"

"Oh, pff, yeah I know. I was just kidding!" she bluffs.

"Okay, if you say so," I remark back.

The conversation stops for a while, then picks up again.

"Moni?"

"Yeah? What's wrong?"

"What happens in the future?"

"What do you mean?"

"I know you know, what happens?"

"I- I don't know. This time is one of the most independent. Someone's missing this time. This hasn't happened before."

"Huh. That's weird"

"Yeah."

Sayori ends up falling asleep on my shoulder again, and I look at the stars again. I softly hum random songs that I think up, and sometimes it sounds like Sayori is humming along. Maybe in her dreams.


	6. Sleeping Pills

~Sayori~  
Dreams are usually nice things, right? Not for me. Especially this one. This one is probably the worst of them all.

Everything was perfectly fine at the beginning. Everyone was happy. And then I died. I was hanging from my own ceiling, the color drained from my eyes. It's creepy, seeing your own dead body. Monika appeared shortly after, vowing to avenge me. 

The literature club continues. Maybe not functionally, but it continues. I don't want to see the way it continues. Everything sorta just rerails from this point. The club is so sad? Bland? Monika is practically nonresistant, caught up in mourning me. Does she really care that much? Anyway, and one point, Natsuki doesn't look that healthy, and stops coming to the club. Wordlessly Monika places a flower on Natsuki's desk. Oh god, Natsuki's dead. 

Yuri ends up bleeding out. Being the only one left, she's furious. She starts throwing stuff, which opens up her cuts. Is her pain tolerance really that high to reopen cuts and not stop? At one point she finally stops as she slowly bleeds out on the floor. Another day, another flower. My flower is wilting.

Monika is crying. She's mourning all of us. She wants to find someway to get us to come back. But files don't work that way, my dream explains.

I jolt back awake. That nightmare was less startling than others. More of a dragging out of dread. To say I jolted is more of an exaggeration. I open my eyes, more so. I don't wanna disturb Monika. I care for her too much. Especially after that nightmare. 

I pick up a small conversation with her. I mistake Venus for a star. It was on purpose, of course. I close my eyes and rest on Monika's shoulder again. I know I'm not going to fall asleep again, but the position is calming. 

Monika hums a slightly familiar melody. It's by one of those indie bands she likes. I only faintly remember some of the lyrics. "When times are tough, I want you to think of you in my arms; me kissing your cheek," I sing no where below a quiet hum. She really is a cheesy person, huh? It's weird to think that Monika and I have only personally known each other for a little while, yet she knows my whole situation. I think Monika looks back at me at one point; she probably heard me sing. 

Oh God.

Oh God, oh God, oh God.

I'm setting myself up for heartbreak again. I'm getting too attached to Monika. To the point where she's my everything. This can't happen again! Last time this happened he moved away. And that shattered me. What am I going to--

"Sayori? Sayori! Sayori wake up!"

That is Monika.

"What? I'm tired!"

"The sun's about to rise! I thought you wanted to see it!"

I did distinctly want to see it, especially after the spectacular sight that was the sunset. I sit up next to Monika, throwing a handful of popcorn in my mouth with varying success.

The sunrise is just as beautiful as the sunset. 

"How was your night's sleep?" Monika asks me.

"Great.." I trail.

"You don't sound very genuine about that."

"I guess. How was yours?"

"I didn't sleep. Had to keep an eye on you!"

"You're right, nobody sleeps while Sayori sleeps!"

"Okay, modern day Chuck Norris,"

"Shhh,"

We head inside for breakfast. Moni leaves after, thanking me for an enjoyable time. I don't bother to clean up outside and resort to collapsing on my bed. I'm tired, but won't sleep.


	7. Why I Don't Smile

~Sayori~

I lay on my bed for what feels like an eternity. It looks like the sun is getting ready to set by now. The quiet and stillness of the house adds on to the darkness of my mind.

wouldn't it be better is you were just.. gone?

Mc left. Probably because of you.

You called Monika over last night. Did she seem like she really wanted to be there?"

It's a scary consideration. It really is. I mean, everyone's doing so well seemingly without me. I pick up my phone. Natsuki and Yuri are posting photos of their hangout today. They're cute with each other; I'm not surprised that they're together. Mc.. He deleted most of his old accounts. Guess he didn't want his new friends to know about me. I wouldn't want my new friends to know about me. I sigh, and I finally get up from my bed. 

I know exactly what I need and where it is. I head straight to the garage and find what I need. I look up the knot I need to make. Up, down, and around a couple times. It's not perfect, but it'll have to do. I pull up a chair to my room. It's really happening. I'm really doing this. That thought sinks in my head.

I realize it's kind of mean, just to go without a note. I open up my phone again, picking whichever contact happens to be the one at the top. It's Monika. I don't write anything too long. After all, I was never that great with words anyway. Just three simple words.

Sayo: I'm in hell.

I shut off my phone and set it face down on my nightstand. Before I do anything, I shuffle through the drawer in it, looking for a piece of paper. I find it crumpled and scan over it, and for the most part, it's still accurate. It was only written last week. I don't remember when exactly I started prewriting my suicide notes every month, but I do it nonetheless.

Once the note is found, I step on the chair and fumble to get the rope to stay on my ceiling. Just to be on the safe side, I reach for the bottle of pills on my nightstand. I dry swallow a few before turning back to the rope affixed to my ceiling. I immediately begin to feel drowsy from the sleeping pills. Alright, Sayori, you can do this. I close my eyes.

3...

 

2...

 

1...

 

 

 

I gently lift my feet from the chair...

Nothing happens at first. After a moment, I realize I can't breathe. Another moment, my neck starts hurting. I don't dare open my eyes. Until I do. My vision is blurred. From what little I can see, nothing seems out of the ordinary. Except a golden-brown blob. Oh well. My eyes close involuntarily.

"SAYORI!" is the last thing I hear before I slip out of conscienceness.


	8. You Or A Ghost?

~Monika~

Once I left Sayori's house, I went straight home. I decided that today will be a day to just chill at home. This week has been a really hard week. Thankfully, Sayori was there to make everything better. What would I do without her?

I got home and changed into more comfortable clothes. Well, pajamas. I changed into pajamas. Sometimes you just can't sugarcoat things. I headed over to the kitchen and found a new note where I had left mine. It's from my mother, reading that she had to leave early for some trip and that she loves me. It's always nice to be reassured that you are loved. I hope Sayori knows she's loved.

I plopped onto the couch with a large bowl of popcorn. I fired up the tv and played some movie on Netflix that looked good. After a while I started mindlessly scrolling through my phone, seeing photos of Natsuki and Yuri's time today. 

Today looked like a wonderful day outside. The sunlight was blanketing everything in it's warm glow. I paused the movie and took a minute to bask in the sun's light. The contrast between my dark house and the sun outside gave me a shocking realization. Is this what Sayori's mind is like? The thought scares me.

Monika, snap out of it! Sayori will be fine. I leave my daze and head back inside. After a while, the movie ends. I scrolled around on Netflix, trying to find another movie, but to no avail. I eventually ended up with a pen and a piece of paper, writing my heart out about all my feelings over these past few weeks. 

I fall into another daze over this piece of paper, entailing all my deepest emotions. The only thing that gets my mind out from it is the buzz of my phone. A new text. From Sayori.

Sayo: I'm in hell.

It takes me a while to figure out what Sayori means. At first I think it's just a joke. Maybe she wants to start a conversation. I started texting her. She doesn't respond, or read, or anything. Then I remember back to last night. Sayori ranting about her feelings and everything. Every memory of her flashed behind my eyes. Oh God, I hope I'm not too late,

I bolted out of the house. I realized that It'd take to long to drive. I go back into the code. I hate doing this but I do it nonetheless. I find my file and use it to teleport straight to Sayori's room. The sight I see is horrible. "Sayori!" I yell. Her eyes close. There's a noose around her neck as she's hanging from the ceiling with her bottle of sleeping pills open near her. There has to be something I can do. I grabbed Sayori's hopefully not dead body.

I still absolutely hated messing with code. No hangover could be worse than changing the fabric of your universe. I messed with the code anyway. Anything to get Sayori back. I could rewind time, just that little bit. It worked, thankfully, and Sayori opens her eyes once again. I hugged her like it's the end of the world.

"Oh my gosh, I was so scared that I lost you. Don't do that again." I said as I tears started coming out of my eyes, my head and heart pounding.

"Monika? You made it. I was stupid, you do care, you care so, so, much," Sayori started sobbing.

I start rubbing her back slowly. "Shh, everything will be alright," I said no over a whisper. We stayed like that for a while.


	9. Le Velo Pour Deux

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oop after this the chapters get super short because i was hit by a wave of writer's block, and then just felt uninspired. I do really wanna wewrite it. today is not that day.

~Monika~

As it turns out, I accidentally rewinded time a little too far back. The x's on my calendar have gone back another week, telling me that it's last week again, and that summer is, once again, on it's deathbed. I force myself out of bed, shaking off the intensity of what I had to do the day before. 

The day was mundane. the same old, same old of the previous week. When I get to the club, though, the something feels different. Something in the air just isn't right. Natsuki and Yuri are already at the clubroom, discussing something I couldn't care enough about to listen in. I wait for a while, until the silence kills me. "Hey guys, does something feel, I don't know, different?" I ask. The two glance at each other, then back at me again. Yuri speaks up, "Definitely. When we woke up today something felt off."

When Yuri finishes her sentence, Sayori walks through the door looking all tussled up. I motion for her to come sit next to me. She does, leaning on my side and groaning.

"Is everything alright with you, darling?" I whisper.

"Evidently, no," she barely audibly says.

"Alright, if you can make it though this meeting, we'll go do something you want to do. Whatever it is." Anything to make her better. I try, I really do.

She pouts. "Fine." Sayori forces herself up with a plastered smile and another groan. She does surprisingly well at faking being alright, which concerns me, thinking about how much she had been doing that all her life.

The rest of the meeting was awkward, at best. It's like a hair in your mouth. You want to take it out, but you just can't find where it is. Poems were stale. Everything in every poem felt surface level, even my own. The air was stagnant. Unmoving, motionless. Nobody wanted to say anything because it was hard to say anything. I'm so happy to finally get out of that damned classroom.

"How about we go to the park?" Sayori chirps as I look somewhere. I can't really pinpoint what part of my vision I'm focusing on. "It was one of my favorite places as a kid and with all the events happening, I'd be so happy to go,"

"Then the park it is!"

One word I would not call this park is "dinky". It's surprisingly large, and could probably hold a really crowded family movie night. One word I would call this park is "uncrowded". You would think that how vast this park is, there would be a lot of people, but no. Only sparse groups of friends, children with their parents, and the workers at booths looking delighted for some actual human interaction

"I guess in the years I haven't gone people decided they're too old or cool for the park, heh?" Sayori states.

"Bullshit! No one's too cool for the park" I say.

Sayori runs over to the playset and sits herself on one of the swings and instructs me to push her. I laugh and do what she says. Gosh, I love her so much. After the swings we doing other things she recommends like cloud gazing and splurging on ice cream because, "the ice cream truck man is there everyday and needs some appreciation."

The sun is threatening to set in seemingly half an hour when Sayori asks our last activity.

"I wanna go on a bike for two!"

"You do now?"

"Always!"

We find a booth that rents equipment, including tandem bikes, or bikes for two. It takes a while before we get used to the multiple-person mechanisms. After that, we run laps around that park like bosses. We ride into the sunset like the ending of a Disney movie.


	10. Don't Like You Anymore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trigger warning: mentioned self-harm

~Sayori~

Gosh, getting out of bed this morning was way too harder than necessary. Who knows why. Maybe it was just routine being harder than usual. Maybe it was the stress of yesterday. Monika was being the best person that exists, always caring for me. I finally got to live my dream of riding a tandem bike, and with my favorite person in the whole wide world. 

The next morning was a rare one for me. I hopped out of my bed, actually ready for the day! I was able to be punctual for classes! Sadly, my happy streak was not able to continue when I got to the Literature Club. Monika had been absent that day, sadly. I saw Yuri curled up into a ball in the corner, seemingly crying. Near the spot where Natsuki usually sat was a bouquet consisting of red carnations, purple violets, and white clovers. There was another clover in Yuri's hair, when you looked closer. 

"Stupid abusive bigot. Couldn't even handle his daughter being trans so he beats her to death." I heard Yuri choke through sobs. I feel bad. Not only did I not even know Natsuki had such a bad home life, but beaten to death, oh my gosh. I step closer to Yuri, a bad idea in hindsight. "Yuri, are you okay? Do you want to talk?"

"Does it look like I want to fucking talk? My girlfriend got beaten to death by her father and I had to watch! We were considering getting her emancipated and on hormones soon and-" Yuri stood up, but couldn't even finish her sentence before breaking down and crying. It takes her a few moments before she did what she did.

She stopped sobbing. More than just simply stop. She started laughing. Hysterically. Yuri suddenly stood up and took off her blazer, her newly scabbed over scars all visible in the afternoon light. "Y'know, Sayori? Maybe if I do this, I'll be able to see Natsuki again! All happy in the light!" Yuri's laugh doesn't end as she starts grabbing desks and chucking them at the wall on the other side of the room. I had to cover my ears and shut my eyes and Yuri's scars began to open again. 

She keeps throwing desks until she absolutely cannot because of blood loss. Now I'm watching Yuri bleeding on the floor, almost completely lifeless. "Sayori.. if you're still there... please tell Natsuki's dad he's an asshole, and say bye to Monika for me, won't you?"


	11. March #1

~Monika~

I didn't expect Sayori to come up to my house that evening, but I was pleasantly surprised. Well, only for a couple seconds. "Monika! Yuri and Natsuki! They're..they're.." Sayori sounded out of breath and terrified. "They're both dead! Yuri's body is still in the classroom!" I could feel all the blood rush away from my face. Natsuki and Yuri, dead? Without my meddling? It seemed redundant to say, but something was clearly wrong. 

I didn't make her say anything anymore. When I let her in, I bundled her up and did whatever I could to make her feel better. She fell asleep at one point, but she definitely didn't rest easy. Despite my concern, I went upstairs to my room to figure out what was happening.

Night had already fallen and my bedroom was already enveloped in darkness, but I didn't mind. I brought up the files for our world and started looking through, seeing what's wrong. Natsuki.chr and Yuri.chr were both corrupted. Actually, most of the files were corrupted. It was mostly obvious when you saw that outside my window, the far horizons were glitching out, turning thousands of colors right before my very eyes. 

Immediately, I became somesort of fucked up doomsday survivalist. I packed all my belongings and what I deemed most important to me in a pack, and did the same with Sayori's stuff at her house. Sayori woke up while I was packing and preparing all of our things. "Monika?" she asked groggily. "What are you doing?"

"We need to get out of here"


	12. Naked As We Came

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> originally, there was a link to a cover of the song this chapter was named after. (if you haven't caught on, all the chapters are named after songs.)  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je27lj-E4R8

~Sayori~  
"We need to get out of here." Monika told me, immediately waking me up. She gestured towards the window, where these glitches were taking up quite a bit of the horizon. "We leave at twilight. I'm moving our files somewhere else. I-I don't think it's safe here," she explained. All my things were already packed in neat little bags.

Twilight came sooner than I wanted it to. Monika was halfway to dying of panic. "Lets"—Monika paused as if she didn't want to admit we were leaving—"go." It was still a little before twilight at this point, so I decided against going just that fast.

We found ourselves back at that park we went to after I had not-died. With all our stuff behind us, we sat on top of the highest hill we could find there, watching the setting sun. The glitches were coming closer, threatening to come near the park at this point. "Sayori?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you ready to go?"

"Never."

"I always thought we'd be able to say in this universe forever. Grow old and all that cheesy stuff. But, I guess we won't be able to now. Maybe we can find a home in our new folder," Monika rambled on for a while, but I didn't stop her. I'm going to miss this place.

When the sun finally set beneath the horizon, the glitches might as well have reached our little hill, they were coming so quickly. Monika's smile had slowly faded from her eyes. "We have to go now. No time to waste," she said solemnly.

"How will it—" I began, but I was cut off by a blinding light.


	13. epilogue i // the end of all things

epilogue i (happy together)

With the glitches coming in, our two protagonists fled to elsewhere. "Characters (2)" was the file that Monika moved their files to. Obviously, it was placed somewhere else on whoever's computer than the original game. Monika kept her original copies of Natsuki and Yuri, but she never used them. She didn't know how to get them to work properly, and she had the worst headache in existence. 

Sayori, on the other hand, was bound to exploring the new file. What a shame that the file is just miles upon miles of white light. She didn't give up for a couple weeks, clearly not seeing the pattern.

Despite this, the bland file was a home for the girls. They didn't need to worry about basic necessities; Monika could conjure up anything in the world they could ever need or want. It still got lonely, at times. It would be comparable to two girls living in a comfy cottage, if that cottage was infinite and well, not that cozy. 

The days blended with the days. The weeks blended into the weeks. The months blended with the months. What even defined a day in this world? There was always a sense of emptiness. No remnants of their friends, their previous lives, anything. 

Still, they had each other, and that's all that they needed.


	14. epilogue ii // heartbreak or death

Monika took it upon her own hands. She created this world; she can destroy it if she wants. She didn't even know how long they'd been staying in the new file. Monika could've probably remade the whole world if she wanted to, but the headache she would've gotten would be unfathomable. 

While Sayori was sleeping, Monika moved her file back to the original game, while creating a piano just for herself. She'd been studying sheet music she could make for herself, but pianos were just too big to do without any repercussion. 

Monika knew what going back to the game and resetting it meant. It meant that MC would come back, and all the girls would forget everything that happened. It was quite the trade-off, she'd go back to being obsessive over someone else while all her friends would forget, but they wouldn't be in these unhappy states. 

Sat down at the piano, Monika placed her hands on the keys and began playing the slow chords.

"You and me, are meant to be,  
like stars in the sky, or leaves on the trees—"


	15. epilogue iii // two birds

This story begins with a boy. Average stature. Brown messy hair. He's in high school, and today's the first day of the new year. His childhood best friend is attempting to catch up with him and barely does. She's inviting him to her new club that she's forming with a friend. He dismisses her question.

Hmm? What's that? You already know this story? I doubt it. If you insist, I'll just skip to the new bits. 

Just like every time, Monika sacrifices herself once again for the world and now Sayori is president of the Literature Club! We start again with this average boy. Once again, Sayori runs up to him, late as ever. Once she sees him, though, something unexpected happens. "Wait.. somethings not right," the color drains from Sayori's eyes. "You-you're not supposed to be here! Monika! Where is she!? I love her, not you, asshole!" 

MC couldn't even say something before Sayori opens the console, immediately deleting him. She couldn't remember how Monika stored the extra character files and had a whole panic session about it. That's right! Monika kept extra copies of the character files on the clipboard! Quickly retrieving the files, Sayori's hands flew on the console. When she was finished, Monika appeared right before her very eyes. With both of them teary eyed, they hugged each other tightly, as if it was the end of the world all over again. 

 

"goodnight, and have a pleasant tomorrow!"


End file.
